Album Review | XXXTENTACION – SKINS

This album was released on December 7th this year. This is the first posthumous release from XXXTENTACION. I didn’t review his last album, ?. However, I did check it out after he passed away earlier this year. It’s not good. There were actually two tracks I kinda like on it though. That track with Joey Bada$$ was dope, and I enjoyed SAD! too. Anyway, if he could barely put together tolerable albums while he was still alive, I doubt this project will be even a little enjoyable for me. I’ll try to keep an open mind though.

1. Introduction produced by XXXTENTACION

This is easily the weirdest opening track out of all the intros I’ve ever heard from XXXTENTACION. It’s a weird robotic voice talking about how the listener has stumbled upon “a place you could feel outside of your skin.” This is a weird track, but there’s no reason for me to discuss it at all. Nobody’s gonna listen to this more than once.

2. Guardian angel produced by Potsu & XXXTENTACION

I just finished listening to this whole song. I definitely don’t think it’s trash. I won’t ever listen to it again though. The beat is just the instrumental of Jocelyn Flores reversed. It doesn’t sound that good to me. Lyrically, this is pretty much a spiritual successor to that song. There’s only one verse, which is pretty decent. It’s a really emotional track. Nothing about it really stands out in a good way to me though. I don’t think it’s that bad, but I can’t say I enjoyed it either. This is mediocre to me.

3. Train food produced by John Cunningham & XXXTENTACION

The production on this track is actually kinda cool. It’s just a repetitive, dark, grim piano driven beat. X is rapping about his encounter with Death. This is actually kinda cool. The song just ended. I like this more than the previous track, but it still felt a little too short. This is definitely one of the more creative songs I’ve heard from XXXTENTACION. I like the bleak production, and none of the verses from X were bad. I just wish the song was a little more fleshed out. It’s a cool track, but it lacks replay value. I enjoyed it to some extent, but I won’t be returning to this.

4. whoa (mind in awe) produced by John Cunningham & Scott Theft

The light production on this track is okay I guess. X’s vocals on this track are tolerable. This isn’t really… I don’t know. It sounds incomplete. It’s literally just a chorus. There were a few lines at the beginning, but the track really fizzles out after that. I wouldn’t call this bad, but it just feels empty. Pretty much the entire song is just X singing the word “wooooah.” I didn’t really enjoy this song. It’s mediocre to me.

5. BAD! produced by John Cunningham & Soukiasyan

This was the lead single from this album. Honestly, I think it’s the most underwhelming song on the whole album so far. The production is average as hell, and the repetitive hook got on my nerves really quickly. I don’t like the way he’s kind of mumbling his words on the hook. His singing doesn’t sound that good to me. This is another super skeletal song. It’s pretty much just a chorus. This reminds me of the most recent Earl album, but I think this is even worse. I’d much rather here a song that’s just a verse than a song that’s just a chorus. This shit is wack to me.

6. STARING AT THE SKY produced by John Cunningham & XXXTENTACION

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT??? LMAOOOO. Oh my God. This might actually be the worst song I’ve ever heard from XXXTENTACION. The repetitive beat on this song is horrible, and his vocals sound terrible. He actually kinda sounds like Trippie Redd on this song. The screamed lyrics towards the end of the song don’t sound good at all. This isn’t really Hip Hop. It’s pretty much a Rock song. I don’t like a single aspect of this track. The instrumental is awful, and X’s singing sounds really bad. This shit is wack af to me.

7. One Minute featuring Kanye West & Travis Barkerproduced by John Cunningham

Ehhhh… Yeah… Nah… I’m not feelin’ this shit at all. Kanye’s verse was surprisingly decent, but I’m not feelin’ the production on this track at all. This is pretty much a Nu-Metal song. X’s performance on this track is really fucking annoying to me. He’s just screaming his brains out all over this song, and it sounds awful. Kanye is the best part of this song. He wasn’t even that good though. He was just tolerable. This song is just as bad if not worse than the previous one. I don’t like anything about this track. It’s wack af to me.

8. difference (interlude) produced by John Cunningham

I don’t really feel like I should judge this as a normal song. It sounds like a voice memo he recorded on his iPhone at like 3 in the morning. This shouldn’t be on an album. He literally could’ve just posted this as a video on Twitter. This isn’t a complete song. I guess I’ll give it a pass since it’s labeled as an interlude. I didn’t enjoy this at all though. It really didn’t need to be here.

9. I don’t let go produced by John Cunningham & CuBeatz

This song definitely has the best beat on the album so far. It’s actually pretty nice. X’s vocals on the hook of this song aren’t too bad. There are two verses on this song, but they’re both really short. They really leave something to be desired lyrically too.

I pull up like a-mhm, huh
She pull up, I’m like, “Mhm,” huah

I think this is one of the better songs on the album, but that’s not really saying much. This song has a dope beat, and a tolerable hook. I won’t be listening to this again. It’s mediocre to me.

10. what are you so afraid of produced by John Cunningham &Soukiasyan

This is another super minimal song that I’ll never listen to again. It’s mediocre to me. The acoustic guitar driven production is tolerable, and X’s vocals don’t sound too bad on the hook. This is another song that’s literally just a chorus though. It sounds incomplete, just like most of the other tracks. I didn’t really enjoy this track at all. I don’t really see the appeal. I don’t think I’d call this wack, but it’s far from good.

This is a bad album. There’s not a single good song on this project. This is even worse than any of the projects that XXX put together when he was still alive. It sounds more like a collection of ideas and snippets of unfinished songs than a legitimate album. It somehow feels even more incomplete than his previous two albums. This is a shameless cash grab from EMPIRE Distribution. This shit is wack.

Favorite Song: Train food
Least Favorite Song: STARING AT THE SKY

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Published by OG Nick Marsh

I am not a music expert. My reviews are completely subjective and should not sway anyone’s opinion on any musical project. I don’t grade albums based on how “good” they are objectively. The score they receive depends on how much I enjoy them personally.
View all posts by OG Nick Marsh